Put on a hat and join the ladies

 Art League of Lincoln California 

Fashion Show at Historic Beermann's

Leave it to the residents of Lincoln, CA to invent such a fun event --raising money for the "arts" in Lincoln.  I heard about this event on Facebook (who says social media doesn't work) and  invited my Mom to join me for tea to support the Art League of Lincoln.  This fundraiser brought ladies from all over the county for afternoon tea and visual delights.  The ladies were dressed up in hats, boas, gloves and we even saw a few parasols.

We all enjoyed a lovely afternoon in the charming setting of Beermann's Restaurant Ballroom.

www.beermannslincoln.com/


I love this old building, one of the oldest in town.  Lincoln became a recognized town in 1859. Many buildings date back to the 1860-1900s. This particular building was built by the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) and the Masons in 1864.  It is a beautiful building with lots of photos, wonderful lighting, moldings and historical details.

The old fashioned downtown area is a great place to shop, walk around and absorb the more than 150 year history of Lincoln.

Art Show

On display on the stage at the event there was a beautiful collection of "art" tea pots from the collection of Ken Underwood.  These were each unique and one of a kind well made pieces of art.

For more information about the Art League of Lincoln,  Lincoln:  www.all4art.net  or call them at 916-543-9669 

Jean Cross the Executive Director of the organization was the emcee of the event.  What a nice job her team did with these artful displays. 

The Art League of Lincoln is a contemporary arts group that focuses on a broad spectrum of the Arts: Clay and Ceramic Arts, Oil Painting and Watercolor, Photography, Needle Arts/Wearable Art, Jewelry, Dance and Theater Arts.

Table Display

The tables were set with an antique book centerpiece.  The pages were fanned out & folded and tea cups with sweet potted flowers.

What a nice group of laddies my Mom and I sat with too.  Everyone there was friendly and engaging.







The fashions modeled were unique and artistic creation by local Wearable Art members who gave us lots of inspiration and ideas.





















Our waiter was a comedian, he was so animated and told us funny quips.  The food was fantastic too!

Fashion Show

The fashion show was marvelous. Sit back and take a look at some of the fashions.  (Please excuse the quality of the photo,  I was quite far away and could not use a flash.)  What lovely outfits these talented women made:

Thank you for checking out my fashion show photos.  I loved the Ballroom venue and want to get back to Beermann's to see the rest of this historic building.  I'm sure it will be fodder for another post, so until next time...Jonelle'

Sharing her evolution of "ARTS" Nicky Ruxton inspires us all

 
 

Mixed-Media Industrial Artwear - Nicky Ruxton with Ruxton Designs

 

I first saw Ruxton Designs at Cañada College Fashion Department's 22nd Annual Designer Show and Sale:

https://www.facebook.com/ArtistryinFashion The Designer Sale showcases unique hand-crafted jewelry, artisan dyed, woven, painted, and felted textiles. They also show antique, vintage, and re-purposed fashions.  I really enjoyed the event.  This is where local, independent designers and artisans are selling their latest creations.  (Mark your calendar for next year’s show, scheduled for September 28, 2013)


Nicky was exuberant and friendly and excited about what she creates and the people who admire it.  We chatted, enjoying her designs and how fresh her ideas were.  At first glance you see she clearly has a deep mixed media background.  But it wasn’t until she came to speak for our group that you learned about her art background and how these delightful creations came to be.

At the Haute Couture Societe in Stockton on Saturday February 2, Nicky gave a wonderful and enlightening retrospective of her creative background and transformation of her designs. 
 
One might call it a timeline of how her work has evolved, reassuring all of us in the room the we too can embrace our evolving “craft”.   

 


 Immediately one notices Nicky’s large smile and enthusiastic energy as she shared her journey.  We were nodding in agreement as sewers, crafters, mixed media novices - evolving in our own way.

Nicky as a young girl loved drawing & coloring.  It was not a surprise with her the exciting way she told of "Going outside the lines."  Nicky never had art classes growing up. Art was not  celebrated in her home.  She loved to draw and as a teen copied cartoons out of the Sunday paper. This deep love to drawing only grew, and she began her career using those untrained yet highly skilled ideas as a graphic artist. She showed some of her early work, and it was well done and professional.

Next she took her expert line drawings and reinvented them onto fabrics.  But this talk was more than technique and inspiration.  Nicky got personal and deep, talking of "her truth."  She spoke of her work as “weeds scattered out and still growing".
Nicky related back to sewing sharing how she too grew up in a home where her mom sewed.  She laughed as she identified with our world saying she understands the difference in craft scissors and sewing scissors.  This is where she experimented with tools and supplies and later sewing free forms stuffed "pillows"

Nicky was one of the “original” green up-cyclers.  She was always on the lookout for discarded materials she could “save” and use to create something new and “fun”.  She found some discarded cardboard and newspapers that she used to create inventive and whimsical boxes. Cutting out the scraps of cardboard she used gesso and paper Mâché techniques to create these fun free form treasures.

Nicky’s talk was refreshingly funny as she timelines her career and more importantly she shares some thoughts about life. You see Nicky has been learning all about “life” through her fingertips.  Through creating new and interesting designs to share and enjoy.

Next as a “lover of collages" Nicky began rubber stamping, stitching, ripped magazines and found objects to make collages from organic looking brown grocery bags.  Wittle stitching, she used “words” to tell her inner thoughts. In those journals she talked about philosophy and how her journey moved along.

She talked about how nice it is to not be over happy or sad but live in the “middle.”  Words of encouragement and a room full of nods showed many crafters desire this middle ground.

She also crafted “glue books.” Gluebooks” look like a cross between art journals and collage. Collect the paper you love from your daily life, and turn it into art by cutting out pictures, word collage pieces, and textures that you love to cover a journal.

Nicky attributes her feeling of success to “enjoying one’s self.” We looked at her beautiful and interesting “soul collage cards” and talked about dreaming.  

 I best understood SoulCollage^® by visiting the SoulCollage website.  They describe SoulCollage as a creative and satisfying collage process. You make your own deck of cards - each collage card representing one aspect of your personality or Soul. Use the collage cards intuitively to answer life's questions and participate in self-discovery. Joyfully deepen your understanding of the relationships between your personality parts, you and your family/community/world, and you and your dreams, symbols, and Spirit. The book, SoulCollage^® Evolving, tells how to make and use the SoulCollage^® cards individually and in groups.

This information came from: http://www.soulcollage.com/about-soulcollage

Last she showed her "self portrait" sharing how she reads the cards, questions a question and how to interpret them.
I'd love to make a collage on some notebooks so I'll keep you posted on an upcoming post.

Friday I'll write about the work shop, so check back!

Enjoy your Tuesday!  Jonelle'

Keeping the Age Old Art of Sashiko Alive

 Marico Chigyo Japanese Sashiko Stitching

In January, kicking off the New Year, the Haute Couture Society hosted speaker Marico Chigyo who talked about Japanese Sashiko – sashiko is a form of decorative reinforcement stitching that originated in Japan.

 

Marico and her sister Toshie, her partner producing Sashiko works of art, were born in Osaka, Japan and came to the United States in 1979.  They love creating textile designs on Indigo cotton fabrics using Sashiko stitching.  Sashiko was created to stitch layers of scarce and precious fabrics together for warmth and durability.

I first saw her work at the American Craft Council Show at Fort Mason in August of 2012.  Her pieces are exquisite and her peaceful open nature endearing.

 

Marico works with indigo dyes to create beautiful fabrics.  Indigo is a potent and lasting dye which dates back to 300 AD.  The reason indigo was used to make clothing for farmers in the fields were to keep insects and snakes away.  These insects and reptiles do not like the scent of indigo. Many cultures use indigo dyed fabrics including Africa, China, Japan and other Asian countries.  Marico is very knowledgeable about the craft and speaks with such sincerity as she described the process of making Indigo.  To my surprise Indigo actually looks rather green when wet in the vat. As the air gets into the piece it oxidizes and turns blue. The more you work the fabric (beating it, slapping it, turning it) it becomes lighter.  My favorite color was very dark navy, an almost black textile.   I can see a lot of patience and perseverance is involved in every process of Sashiko.

During Marico's power point presentation she shared photos she had taken while on a visit to a studio in Japan.  Using only roots, herbs, onion skins, dogwood bark and walnuts - all natural ingredients, they dye their fabric and threads blue, deep rust, green, and most beautiful of all, deep blue. She passed around sample pieces of indigo to smell, and feel.
 Marico had brought her junior high daughter to help her with the presentation.  She helped by modeling the jackets and vests and holding up beautiful quilts, fabrics and tapestries from their home.

Marico would like to someday go through the dying process on her fabrics at her home in Mill Valley, but the stitching takes a long time to do so for now she really dyes only threads herself and stays focused on her stitching.  Harmony is important while stitching.  In fact Marico worries if her stitches get larger and inconsistent. Each garment or quilt she makes takes focus and meditation to keep her stitches even.


 

In the beginning, sashiko was valued for its strength and durability, but today it has evolved into a highly prized decorative form of art.  Many fisherman wear sashiko jackets, they are generally made by their wife to protect their husband. They meditate to infuse a positive spirit into each project to protect their husbands and keep them warm.

I love the “Green” factor, how they use the fabrics and stitching to increase warmth and to recycle whatever fabrics they possessed by patching together with a running stitch of heavy double cotton thread. The stitching itself helped to strengthen the fabric, multiple layers increased their warmth.

Marico loves handwork and follows fashion from all over the world. She gravitates towards natural buttons not plastic. She reminds us that sashiko is a good way of recycling.   I liked the way she really connects with her ancestors and the tradition of stitching.  I think she sees this craft as preserving an important part of the past and carrying on the handcraft tradition into the future.



 Marico brought 30 or so hand stitched pieces to share with our group.  Marico and her sister clearly have updated the traditional sashiko with their contemporary shapes, spirals, chevrons, and the way they use contrasting stitching on the cotton coats, vests, jackets, and accessories.

  She is an original, taking influence from Japan and other countries, yet creating her own works.
Take a look at the blue pants she is wearing in the pictures.  When one of our members asked about the patched stitching she shared that she used sashiko on her pants and the stitching on the knees was because of her long hours stitching on the fool mat on her knees (this had worn out.)  She did some sashiko on the knees to continue to wear them. She often takes apart old kimonos to remake into new projects too.


 If you order your own sashiko jacket from Marico she will stitch them while thinking of you or the person she is making it for to send a positive spirit into the jacket.  She meditates on peace, energy and heart while working on the jacket. Customers feel more centered by wearing her jackets. (Well worth the six month wait for it to be made.)

In her quilts she uses cotton batting, but no batting goes into the jackets. She “lights up” as she talks about how she gets her inspiration and explains how she starts a project.

She showed small projects that the group can make at the workshop to follow, which made me sad I could not attend. L  She also showed small projects in the books she brought that had examples of more modern ways of using Sashiko.

 

The sister duo was featured in the spring 1997 Vol. 20 No. 3 of Ornament Magazine.  Toshie and Marico Chigyo shared their Sashiko Meditation Work that included a Sculptural Headdresses.

She has been exhibiting in arts and craft shows across the country, including the Smithsonian DC, Philadelphia, ACC Show in San Francisco, Boston and New York. She also teaches Sashiko workshops at needle groups throughout the US.

Her sister Toshie is in Japan right now building a Japanese cultural center in Kyoto. It will have workshops and exhibits of textiles and handwork.  What commitment. obviously their feelings for preservation of culture run deep.

Toshie and Marico have a website with additional information: www.chigyo.org

To Learn More Why NotTravel to Japan

she has such a sweet spirit, a wonderful smile, sincerity and kind heart.  And more than a craftsman she shares openly her background in a more personal way by arranging cultural trips to Japan.  For more than 25 years she and her sister Toshie have arranged and led trips to Japan.  The trips focus on Sashiko- and traditional crafts of Japan as seen through the eyes of Toshie and Marico Chigyo.  They enjoy sharing their experiences and introducing attendees to learn more about “I.  Shoku.  Jyu”   - fabrics, clothing, the Japanese cuisine, architecture, home life and other aspects of cultural importance.   She goes twice a year  She also gives workshops on Japanese culture, cooking classes and tea ceremonies.



 
In the afternoon Marico lead a workshop where students learned the traditional hand stitching method.

-how to draw patterns onto fabric using a "Hera" (tool)    

-how to Stitch properly depending on your pattern          

-how to construct the Sankaku bukuro, napkin or center piece.

I have seen a few projects that fellow members are working on and what beauty and grace goes into these projects. 
 

I highly recommend Marico as a speaker.  Her contact information:

Marico Chigyo

chigyo.org

Yountville, CA

Fashion Wearables

info@chigyo.org.